On Feb. 2, the basketball world was turned upside down when the Dallas Mavericks unexpectedly traded franchise point guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and draft compensation.
The move caught almost everyone outside of the two front offices off guard and quickly grabbed the attention of Doncic’s former teammate and fellow superstar Kyrie Irving, who had grown very close to Doncic after the two led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season.
Since the trade, the Lakers have thrived, remaining in the top five of the Western Conference standings, while the Mavericks have fallen out of the play-in tournament and, weeks ago, lost Irving for the season due to a torn ACL.
Nevertheless, Doncic and Irving remain close, and on Sunday, for Irving’s 33rd birthday, Doncic sent him a simple three-word message on Instagram.
“Happy birthday hermano!!! @KyrieIrving.”
Both Doncic and Irving are two of the most unique and talented players in the game today. When GM Nico Harrison decided to move Doncic, after such a short time the two guards spent playing together, it sparked strong reactions from Mavericks and NBA fans.
However, both players made it clear that they understand it’s a business, and their friendship has certainly not been affected by the shocking departure.
“We’ve texted back and forth.” Irving said on Feb. 11. “I’ve let him know that regardless of how this NBA business shakes out…We’re loyal to each other’s families now. We had a lot of sacred conversations that went beyond the court, and just helping each other as men. I set my mission early on when I got traded here of just what I wanted to accomplish with him and I felt like we got that going and unfortunately it was cut short.”
